alexis blogs: June 2013

Event Report: Bandung Indonesia 2-Day Trip

June 28, 2013

Thanks to Steph, I had the fortune to visit Bandung, Indonesia for a short 3D2N trip last week. It was kindly sponsored by AirAsia and organized by OMY.SG. I was also lucky enough to be able to get away from work because it was a *relatively* quiet week.

On the Day 1, after arriving at the miniscule airport (read about the flight experience on Steph's), we went straight to a man-made lake, then a volcano crater (no, it wasn't at all Lord of the Rings) and a tea plantation before checking into our hotel in the "art deco/western style" district.

On Day 2, we went for an awesome brunch at Hummingbird (review here!), filling our tummies before we fill our other appetite - for SHOPPING! I think next to Bangkok, Bandung would be the best alternative to get clothes at an affordable rate already! Check out Steph's post about our buys!

Now, some pictures and captions.

Day 1

The Floating Market. Quite idyllic. Had our lunch there.

Followed by the volcano crater! Even if it looks pretty, try to imagine the smell of rotten eggs (sulphur) that goes with it. And 21 degrees wind. Still, it was quite cool when we first went to the fence and looked down. Totally didn't expect it.

Lifestyle bloggers Estelle and Agri were part of the tour group too, and they rented albino horses for a quick ride. The taller horse is called GaGa, very trendy.

The tea plantation was our last stop. Steph's face, introduces it all.

Our hotel, Gino Feruci, is in the "Braga" district, which has really cool architecture that made me feel like I'm walking down some streets of New York.

The room. Small and cosy. By then we were bushed! (But not before going to the convenience store nearby to buy Qtela Cassava aka Singkong chips and Tora Bika coffee.)

Day 2

Decided to go for nice brunch. Hummingbird Eatery was probably the best place I've eaten at during those two days. And perhaps the month, to be honest. Check out my review of it soon!

Next, shopping. It was surprisingly good. So good, I bought too much. That's because my maths is really not that good, and the conversion is so difficult to calculate! Excuses..

Here's the list of places we went to, in case you wanna go. 5 stars means great. Zero means don't bother.

Jl. Setiabudi

- Rumah Mode *****

- Mode Plus *

- Fashion World ***

Jl. Dago

- Anthropology **

- Grande ***

Jl. Riau

- Heritage

- Summit *

- Cascade

This was what I ended up with. SGD400 of STUFF OMG WTF WHY DID I SPEND SO MUCH.

We also took a public bus that we hopped on to get from Area 1 to to Area 2 for like 30 cents sgd. Steph's usage of Bahasa really helped a lot. One thing we realized - it's actually not as easy to get a good taxi in Bandung as you would in BKK or SG for example. There are also a lot of rogue taxis that charge a minimum 20,000 Rupiah even if they have the meter on (which starts at 5,000 rupiah). We just paid anyway.

Then we had super awesome street food - the BASO MIE. Which means meatball noodles. The soup was clear chicken stock, has the umami flavour, chicken feet (yucks no), a big juicy meatball and tofu (they love tofu).

We had 2 bowls of noodles, one with sweet sauce and one with pepper/clear seasoning. Steph preferred the sweet one, but I liked the clear one!

We also tried the fried tofu and wanton dumplings from a street stall nearby. It was quite tasty too. They really liked their fried tofu because they sell it everywhere.

Then, as our shopping dwindled due to quality of shops, we decided to go back to the hotel as dusk approaches. We then came out a short while later for our pre-dinner snack. It was supposed to be our tea time plan, but we were there at 7pm. Oops.

The cafe is called SUGARUSH. With a name like that, do you already know what they sell?

Love the interior and decor! It is literally 3 doors down from the hotel.

And they sell pastries and sweet things. Of course. Apparently famous for churros, macarons and rainbow cake. Also, look at the Elmo and Cookie Monster Cupcakes!

And here is the famous rainbow cake. Had to take so much pictures because if I am eating all that stuff, I better milk the prettiness out of it. The sign on the cake says "Diet? Forget it!" Very apt, don't you think?

It was surprisingly good though. Tasted like vanilla, very uniform flavour and soft chiffon texture. The cream coating was also pleasant enough. We finished it :O

The food there is not pricey at all. The churros we ordered were quite good, though it would be better if there was cinnamon!

Finally we went to Kampung Daun for dinner. It was located ONE HOUR away from the city - but had a very chill Dempsey vibe to it when we got there (after rickety roads and potholes). It was also significantly cooler than the city.

We ordered some local food - they were great, but if we had a local we might have ordered even better dishes!

Day 3

The next morning, our flight was delayed, so we did what 2 people stuck in an airport with 2 hours to spare during lunch time would do - we fled immigration (they kept the passport they have already stamped with the "exit" chop), hailed a taxi and told the driver to go to the nearest KFC. LOL.

It was really yummy by the way, though not like our chicken is that bad. Theirs is just better.

When we got back to the airport, we found that AirAsia had arranged for everyone to have a McChicken (not the burger) drumstick/thigh meat with rice lunch box. How thoughtful! It was also very dericious, perhaps even more so than KFC!

A short 1.5 hour flight later, we touch down to see THIS. #sghaze, welcoming us with its PSI 300.

Despite the haze, it still feels great to be home. I feel so blessed to be able to experience Bandung like no other though. What a trip!

Read my review of Hummingbird Eatery here!

food review

Food Review: Cedele All-Day Dining at Great World City, Singapore 237994

June 17, 2013

I was kindly invited by the folks from Cedele (pronounced "ce-deh-lee") to try out their dinner offerings at Great World City restaurant a couple of weeks back. I was curious at first as to why - it's not as if there was a new menu, new place or new chef.

Turns out, it's because they would like to remind and re-acquaint the restaurant with the media and public once in a while. I thought that was great because the trouble with food reviews these days is that they tend to favor the new, so you get 3 year old reviews for the old stalwarts in the Singapore dining scene.

In any case, I have always liked Cedele prior to the invite, mostly because I would go to their Swissohotel branch (not many people know there's a full-menu restaurant upstairs, not in the basement of Raffles City) to have lunch. I like their menu because it has all-day breakfasts, a good range of salads and sandwiches, and some interesting pasta concoctions. Not to mention their divine cakes to top it all off.

Before starting on the food, here's just a bit about our home-grown Cedele that makes them different from other restaurants out there.

Founded in 1997, Cedele's philosophy of Nutritionally Delicious is the starting point for every food product that is drafted into Cedele’s menu – putting what’s best for the customers first. In 2006, their all-day dining cafes started.

As a rule of thumb, Cedele’s foods are free of trans fat, preservatives, chemical emulsifiers and additives. They are also the first to champion organic unrefined sugar, grapeseed oil and gluten-free dietary dishes.

The Cedele difference is that the food is nutritionally delicious, Asian-inspired and made with artisanal skills.

Isn't it great? I really liked that they are ahead of the food trends curve with no trans fat and all. Despite all the 'healthiness' though you still get delicious tasting food and not bland tofu or wheatgrass. No. It's all balanced but delicious. The only thing might be the price points - with good quality ingredients, the prices also tend to be a bit higher.

I started the meal with a Apple Cranberry Lassi ($6.70). Unfortunately, it was a mishmash of flavors which did not stand out for me. I would say go for an iced tea instead.

For appetizers, we had 3 dishes. Started with the Burmese Shan Tofu ($8.90) which despite the very interesting name, tasted quite simply like tau guah with some shallots and sauce. Good for older folks?

There's also a simple Grills & Greens Salad Meal: Chicken & Walnut ($15). There was a myriad of different dressings which you can add on yourself. As a salad I would say it is really simple. Not very exciting for me just in terms of personal preference. Perhaps their Caesar Salad might have more oomph!

The one I really liked was the Vegetable Stacks ($18). The portobello mushroom inside was the bomb! The fact that there's no meat at all in this dish was also amazing. The light tomato sauce complemented well with the portobello, and I could even get past the brinjal (which I normally don't eat).

On to the mains! Luckily we were all given tasting portions while the full-sized ones are photographed, which was very thoughtful.

The Prawn Paprika Risotto ($17.90) is one of those 'comfort food' type of dish that you would go to if you don't feel like trying something new that day. The prawns were fresh and bouncy, while the risotto was cooked well and soaked in the paprika/tomato-based sauce. It might get a bit too much if you have to finish the entire plate yourself, but that is always the case with risottos.

The highlight of the mains was a tie between the Black Pepper Crab Pasta ($17.50) and the next pasta dish. I really enjoyed the Black Pepper Crab Pasta because it is just aglio olio with black pepper, but done so perfectly everything blends together. The soft shell crab was delicious, and the seafoody taste accentuated with the small spice of the black pepper!

The Lemongrass & Lime Fish Pasta ($17.90) was the other contender. It was so good I feel like I can finish the whole big plate of it myself. For some reason, the lemongrass and lime taste just infused itself into the spaghetti so well that you don't feel at all heavy. The sea bass was also very fresh. Notice that they don't use a lot of different varieties of fish, so they can focus on getting the freshest.

Lastly we ended the meal with some organic fair trade coffee and cakes. The cakes sampler set was EXCELLENT.

We had the Chocolate Banana Espresso Cake, Red Velvet, Carrot Walnut Cake (walnuts from California!) and Blueberry Hazelnut Cheesecake, Strawberry Rose Cake, Black Sesame Tahini Cake and Salted Caramel.

If you need a recommendation on the cakes, go for the Red Velvet. They use natural red coloring from beetroot for it. All of their cakes also use raw unrefined sugar and an imported cream cheese with is their trade secret. It is super delicious! Since Cedele has roots in baking, you can be sure that cakes and desserts are their forte.

Overall despite some hits and misses, I did enjoy my meal at Cedele and would not hesitate to go back should I be in town and feeling hungry. Their food is on the pricier side but I would recommend it as sort of the 'default' restaurant you can go to for their huge range of food that is well done yet healthy!

Cedele by The Bakery Depot Comprising 3 All-day Dining Restaurants, 5 Semi-dining Restaurants, 15 Bakery Cafes, and 2 Retail Bakeries. www.cedeledepot.com

All-Day Dining Restaurants

Great World City
1 Kim Seng Promenade #01-01/02 Great World City Singapore 237994
Tel: 6836 1426
Mon–Thu: 9am to 10pm, Fri: 9.00am to 10.30pm, Sat/Eve: 8am to 10.30pm, Sun/PH: 8am to 10pm

Wheelock Place
501 Orchard Road #03-14 Wheelock Place Singapore 238880
67328520
Daily 10am to 10pm

Raffles City Level 3
252 North Bridge Road #03-28A Raffles City Shopping Centre (near Convention Centre) Singapore 179103
63378017 (no reservations during lunch time, I tried)
Daily 11am to 10pm

food review

Food Review: Grub at Bishan Park, Singapore 569983

June 16, 2013

I went to Grub a couple of Saturdays back for a late spontaneous dinner, as I was not up for the cold dinner at home. Grub was also conveniently located just right opposite my house in Bishan Park -- how fortunate am I to be within walking distance to the hottest new restaurant (not) in town?

My brother has been there once previously and came back with favorable reviews. I was also intrigued by their menu - and their social media marketing prowess. Post a photo tagged #grubSG on instagram and it gets shown on the TV in the restaurant! I've also seen quite a few friends talk about it on Twitter/Instagram prior, so I know I had to check it out. I'm already considered late, I think!

It is a relatively small place with probably 50 seats in total and they don't seem to do reservations, so you can wait up to an hour because this place is REALLY popular.

What is most awesome about this place is that it is dog-friendly so dogs can roam the al fresco area. That means Mik Mik aka Mickey the dog can hang while we eat! After a walk in the park of course. They even have water dishes for doggies to hydrate. How thoughtful. We brought her there and she was really happy, and other patrons loved her too.

Here she is waiting to be seated.

On the food and drinks! Ok, everything was great and I didn't mind the 30m wait at 8.40pm on a Saturday. But they took probably 30 minutes to serve us our drinks, which is quite unreasonable since it was just THERE. Service definitely can be faster? Luckily the food came soon after.

The Crabbie's alcoholic ginger beer and spiced orange alcoholic ginger beer at $10 each was really delicious though. Cooling and light, with the spiced orange being slightly tangy and both quite spicy. The Magic Hat #9 Pale Ale was also agreeable.

Anyway, on to the highlight. Since I was the only one eating among the group, there is just ONE dish to review. However, it is an excellent dish that was tried and tested. The Slow Roasted Pork Belly ($15) with mango sauce, mash and cherry tomatoes salsa was EXCELLENT. It was just sublime, in fact.

For $15, it was a steal. Initially I tried to crack it with my fork and found the surface hard. So I pushed down with the knife, and to my surprise it just cut through the glazed hard surface into the meat which was soft, juicy and WOULD YOU LOOK AT THAT.

It is probably one of the most memorable meat dishes I've had this year. The layer of fats underneath that goes with the oh-so-tender pork with natural juices, complemented with the bed of mash and tangy salsa. It is really.. wow. A must-try.

I know I'll be back to try their breakfast set ($15)!

Great place for dinner in a perfect idyllic location over a selection of slightly 'left wing' menu - kudos to making it interesting. Try the pork, the churros, but skip the fish burger which I heard was not impressive. Do be prepared to wait!

Grub
510 Ang Mo Kio Avenue 1, Singapore 569983
+65 64595743
Tue – Fri 5:30pm – 10:30pm
Sat, Sun and PH 9:00am – 2:30pm, 5:30pm – 10:30pm
Kitchen closes at 2pm and 9:45pm daily.
Closed on Mondays and the last Tuesday of every month.

health

Product Review: Florida Natural's Juices and Valencia Oranges

June 16, 2013

food review

Food Review: A for Arbite at 28 Aliwal Street, Singapore 199918

June 09, 2013

I'm glad to introduce to you guys a new eating place near Bugis area which is very good! I was invited by the kind folks of the original Arbite to try out their new branch at Aliwal Street, called A for Arbite.

In case you are wondering, "arbite" is actually German for "work". Their philosophy is in fact - Work Hard, Live Well.

I have previously blogged about brunch, and dinner at the Serangoon Gardens branch.

What I really liked about the place is the decor. Being in the Aliwal Arts Centre, it was themed as a school-room to fit into the place. The familiar legos carry on from the original branch at Serangoon Gardens.

Back to school! Very spacious and roomy, with no smell at all. That is my favorite - proper ventilation to a restaurant is very important but often neglected. It always bother me if I left smelling like what I just ate.

We had some specialty Gryphon tea to start. This was the Mango and Mangosteen Tea ($6) and very fragrant and good. You can't get this flavour outside!

Next up, some beer samplers! One of the key difference between this branch and the original is the emphasis on beer pairings. As a wine/beer/coffee idiot, the tasting notes that comes with the sampler was really helpful.

Here's my friend Steph aka stooffi who was dining with me. Look at her "WAH beer!" face. Lol!

Anyway, we were treated to an extravaganza of food thanks to Marc. It gave me a really good idea of the menu. When I asked him what is the difference between this and Arbite, he mentioned that there is more care taken to plate the food, the ingredients are slightly more upclass, there is more variety and of course the prices might be slightly higher.

However I find that it is still very good value for money for the food you are getting!

The first dish to try is one of my favorites among the appetizers. The Kueh Pie Tee ($7.90) small bites is a modern take on a traditional dish - the filling is made with Japanese curried pulled chicken and you can add in lettuce, chopped nuts and apples julienne. The Japanese curried pulled chicken was so yummy, I can eat it straight, though the "container" is very crispy and enjoyable.

The Fingerling Truffle Potato ($10.90) was exciting - it's rough cut potato, tossed with truffle oil. Like wet fries, very satisfying. It wasn't exactly super mind-blowing though.

The next appetizer was the Beef Onglet Tataki ($13.90) which should definitely be consumed immediately because it does not do well when cold. The beef was a little chewy and raw as well. I would say if there's a toss up between this and another dish, choose the other.

The favorite of the night, and among the appetizers is the next dish. MUST TRY! It's the Scotched Egg ($7.90) which is actually a soft poached egg wrapped with minced bacon and pork, breaded and deep fried served with yuzu and wasabi hollandaise. Doesn't the ingredients sound exciting already? Because it tastes AMAZING.

It is poached, so the egg yolk oozes out. If you are a fan of poached eggs and all the unhealthy and sinful but so good fringe ingredients, this is perfect.

The last dish among the Small Bites is the Eggs En Cocotte ($14.90), which is probably a tie for second place with the Kueh Pie Tee as my favorite appetizier. Made with foie gras pâté, spinach and eggs layered in a casserole and baked, served with croutons.

The foie gras filling was generous, not too overwhelming and just very enjoyable when coated with the yolk of the egg.

And then we get to the mains! The carbs superstar here is the Smoked Duck and Porcini Fettuccine ($25.90) with slices of smoked duck breast, porcini mushrooms and baby spinach in a cream sauce. I really liked Arbite's pastas (their green tea fettucine at the Serangoon branch still remains one of my fav pastas of all time) and this smoked duck fettucine is no different. The pasta's al dente and the sauce is not too heavy so as to nicely complement the textures of the pasta and the saltish smoked duck, which was tender and juicy.

The next dish was the mini beef truffle burgers ($15.90) which turned out unfortunately to be the least liked dish of the night for me. It looked really cute and enticing with the mini pan fried quail egg on top, but sad to say I find the beef too dry and the truffle infusion (as written on the menu) non-existent. The kriek onion jam did add some flavour to the meat but didn't do much to help with the texture. I did feedback this to Marc though and we both agreed that it is a personal preference thing -- some people actually like their burgers slightly on the drier side.

Lastly for desserts! The very innovative and exquisite dishes really surprised me. First there was Edith's Mess ($9) which was made with crumbled meringue, fresh berries and bananas folded in whipped cream. It was named after Marc's daughter, Edith of course, which is so sweet. The dish was light, sweet and fresh. Great for a palate cleanser after all the sinfulness.

And finally, the highlight of the desserts section was the off-the-menu specialty item which is available at the Gardens branch, but on special request at Aliwal's. It is the Ginseng Panna Cotta ($10) that is made with cream infused with ginseng and wolfberries served with a honey and chrysanthemum sorbet and yuzu foam. It was super interesting. Initially we were apprehensive to ginseng, but the combination of the sweet and refreshing chrysanthemum sorbet and tart yuzu foam complemented the healthy and fragrant ginseng taste. YOU MUST TRY IT to know it. Really. It's not that weird.

There is currently a UOB 1-for-1 lunch set deal which is really value for money because it is

Soup of the Day + Salad +

Choice Of Smoked Salmon tossed with spinach tagliatelle in a light cream sauce

OR Grilled Ribeye with condiments of the day and a black pepper sauce

OR Roasted half spring chicken marinated in Cajun spices with condiments of the day

+ Choice of Coffee, Tea or Soft Drink for $30+ only! Means $15+ per person!

Overall I must recommend A for Arbite if you are looking for good food, great space and little surprises to your meal. Thanks to Marc for the invite and hosting us to the very excellent dinner!

A for Arbite

28 Aliwal Street #01-01 Singapore 199928

Tel: 83212252

Tue - Fri: 11:30 - 23:00, Sat: 11:00 - 23:00, Sun: 09:00 - 21:00

Menu www.arbite.com.sg